


Lightsabers for Hire

by Kyber_Heart



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:49:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28693500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyber_Heart/pseuds/Kyber_Heart
Summary: Hylo Visz has a new lead for Alliance Commander Aidrien Keyett on a possible new recruit.
Relationships: Male Jedi Knight | Hero of Tython/Theron Shan, Original Character/Original Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Lightsabers for Hire

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, my name is Anthony, or Anto for short. This is the first piece of my writing I’m publicly sharing here! This fic is a piece about an original character of mine who joins The Alliance of my main SWTOR playthrough. This fic is intend to represent a kind of 'Alliance Alert' for this character. All comments and criticism are not only welcomed but appreciated! This fic can also be found on my Tumblr, the link to which can be found here:

> From: Hylo Visz
> 
> To: Aidrien Keyett
> 
> Subject: Need to talk.
> 
> Hey Commander.
> 
> Got a new lead for ya’. I think you’ll be personally interested in this one! Meet me in the cantina at thirteen-hundred hours, we’ll talk more about it.
> 
> Captain Visz

The message was short, sweet, and accurate to Hylo’s assessment, intriguing. The vagueness of her message, and her emphasis on finding it ‘personally’ interesting, had made it so to Aidrien Keyett. Rien arrived at their agreed meeting point a couple minutes early, however Hylo had already been waiting. She lifted her hand to him in a casual wave from a seat in the back. A server droid approached only an instant after Rien sat down.

“Afternoon, Commander. Glad you could make it. What’ll you have?” Visz greeted him. Rien raised an eyebrow, amused. The smuggler was a legend, she commanded respect and was a force to be reckoned with. Yet it was surprising just how laid back the Mirialan actually was.

“It’s kinda early isn’t it?” 

She shrugged in response to him. “I like to get a head start.” She glanced to the droid “Juma Juice, neat. Commander?” she prompted again with a smirk. 

Rien smirked back at her “Water’s fine, thanks.” the droid chirped and rolled away from the booth “You said you had a lead for me?”

She chuckled “Straight to business. I like that about you, Commander.” she leaned forward, her posture taking a more formal air, with her arms resting on the table “We’ve recently hired a few of the Corellian Run boys to help smuggle spare ship parts to us. Well, to make a long story short, we’ve been hearing some tales from them of a mysterious bounty hunter on Corellia. Nothing out of the ordinary so far, right? Here’s where it gets interesting.” The droid returned with the two drinks on a mounted tray. Hylo took her drink and took a sip before continuing.

“So, allegedly, this new bounty hunter uses Lightsabers.”

“A Jedi?” Rien asked before taking a sip of his water. 

“Possibly. No offence to you and your order, but with the rate you and the Sith have been dying in the last century, Lightsabers have flooded the black market. Taken off the bodies from battlegrounds.”

“And Corellia was a combat zone in the last war.” Rien adds rhetorically. 

“This could be nothing, or it could be something, but I figure it’s ‘something’ enough to at least follow up on.”

“Do we know anything else about this hunter?” 

“The stories refer to him only as Ke’dem Guerlle”

Rien’s brows knitted together. ‘Ke’dem Guerlle’. It was Old Corellian. 

“Fallen Guard?” he guesses at a translation to which Hylo only looks at him with surprise.

“You know your Olys Corellisi...”

The statement was partially true. He studied as a Jedi Initiate on the planet Socorro, one of the first major Corellian colonies. The settlers had brought their language with them, yet over the generations it mutated into it’s own distinct dialect, Midys Corellisi or ‘Middle Corellian’. Though mostly similar, Rien had remembered being made keenly aware that the two were not the exact same after a slight miscommunication ended up with him walking away with a black eye once. Still, the wording of this name seemed deliberate.

“It’s an odd name for a bounty hunter. Sounds like he could be a Jedi, or he wants people to think he is. Anything else?”

“Not much but I can get my people working on it.” 

“I’d appreciate it. I’ll see if Agent Shan knows anything.” He finishes the rest of his water. “Thank you for bringing this to me.”

Hylo waves her hand dismissively “Part of the job isn’t it?” her own rhetorical statement “Later, Commander.” 

\---

“I’ve scoured my contacts, called in a few favours, even called Teff just in case, our man Ke’dem Guerlle is practically a ghost story. No known identity or useful information of any kind that might point to a location. All we know is that both CorSec and The Corellian Jedi are looking for him as well”

Two days had passed since Rien’s meeting with Hylo. Rien had brought the information to his other advisors immediately. Now Theron offered his findings. 

“I’d rather not get either of them involved if we can help it.” The Commander sighed “So we’re still at square one?”

“I didn’t say that.” The agent’s voice dipped deeper and more playfully. “Ke’dem just seems to pop up places, he was spotted yesterday at the racing club of one Zuurgessh The Hutt.” Theron pulled up a holo image of security camera feed. A being, dressed rather plainly if not for the large domed helmet covering his face, was frozen mid-walk in the flickering blue image.

“He’s a racer on top of a hired gun?” 

“I doubt it. Witnesses say he went in, spoke to Zuurgessh and left about fifteen minutes later. Zuurgessh prides himself on being a ‘legitimate businessman’ but it’s common knowledge that he’s crooked in almost every way.” 

Rien stared at the holo-image

“How do we know that’s even Ke’dem?” 

Theron smirked “The helmet is part of his legend. No one knows what he looks like, allegedly. Which would make it easy to blend in when he’s not working.”

Rien only nodded in return. “Well then Zuurgessh is the one I need to visit. He’s our best shot at finding him at the moment.”

“I thought you’d say that. I can have my shuttle ready in about thirty minutes.”

Rien’s head snapped up from the holo-image

“You want to come with me?”

“I figure you could use some help. I made a pretty big name for myself as a swoop racer on Manaan. I know the type of place Zuurgessh runs, and maybe I could use that name to get a face to face meeting with him.”

Rien’s confusion morphed into disbelief “You were a racer? How come you never told me?”

Theron grinned “You never asked.”

Rien rolled his eyes “Alright, you got me there. But hey, if you want to come with me, I’d like that” His voice trailed into a softer tone as he spoke, to the point of near fluster at the end. Theron moved slightly closer to the Jedi Knight.

“I’d like that too.” he leaned in, giving Rien a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll get the ship ready. Thirty minutes, don’t be late.” he joked as he rounded the holotable and headed towards the hanger.

Rien couldn’t fight the blush on his cheeks as he too left the ops centre. He made his way to his quarters, still blushing. A couple of days alone with Theron on a ship, he could think of a few ways to pass the time. He smiled to himself. The damn agent made it impossible to focus on the mission. Shaking his head he tried to focus. Ke’dem Guerlle, Fallen Guard. If he was a Jedi, that also complicated matters. Worse if they were a fallen Jedi like the name suggested, or worse again, a former Sith. 

\---

Corellia was almost exactly as he had left it ten years ago. The buildings were still scarred from the Imperial invasion, though repair work was still being done to fix the damage. Still, the Corellians had earned their reputation as a resilient people. The city streets were alive with activity. Street vendors yelled their offers into the bustling crowds. Speeder traffic was as hectic as ever, which is where they found themselves now. Theron piloted their currently stopped swoop bike, waiting for the automated lights to allow them to proceed. Rien sat behind him, observing Coronet City. 

“We should have just taken the tram.” Theron grumbled.

Rien chuckled “Wasn’t it you that said it wouldn’t ‘look good for a racer to show up without his bike’?” he teased.

“Shut up...” he continued to grumble. “Finally!” he exclaimed as the lights turned green. However, the speeder in front of them remained stationary. A loud horn sounded behind them.

“WANNA MOVE THERE, WAGYX?! I GOT PLACES TO BE!” a loud voice shouted from the speeder behind them. It got the attention of the front speeder which awkwardly lurched forward and took off at a speed slightly higher than the zone permitted. Traffic began to flow again. 

“What’s your plan for when we go in here?” Rien asked, his voice needing to raise slightly to compensate for the sound of the engine and the velocity.

“I’m gonna introduce myself as Theron Shan, former Swoop Racer on the Manaan circuit. You’re going to be my manager.”

“Your manager?!” Rien began to protest “Theron, I have no idea-” 

“Don’t worry” Shan cut him off. Rien could feel Theron chuckle though his body’s sudden vibrating “We just need to play it enough to get us in a room with Zuurgessh.”

“I have a bad feeling about this...” Rien muttered to himself.

It took them very little time after that before they were pulling up to a rather large establishment. The building seemed to be a converted tram station. The neon signage that decorated most of the front of the building made it stand out and look completely unlike a tram station, were it not for the actual track that went through the top of the building. Theron parked the swoop beside a number of others at the front of the entrance. Their arrival earned several glances. A pair of Twi’lek women took notice of Theron and began to blatantly eye him up, giggling to each other once they caught Rien looking at them. 

“Looks like you already have fans.” 

Theron smirked “Jealous?”

Rien rolled his eyes “Sure.” 

Actually, if he were honest with himself, he was feeling a tinge of jealousy. They had only recently begun to cement their relationship. He had to promise himself that he would not let Theron and their relationship affect him in the field. Yet sometimes, slips like these happened. 

The pair walked into the racing club. The floor was sticky and covered in old betting slips. Large screens projected live footage of races to the mass of rowdy patrons. In the middle of the floor stood an old ticket desk that had been converted into a bar and a betting desk. An Aqualish woman and a Torguta man ran the bar, while a Nautolan male ran the betting. 

Rien glanced to Theron “Show time.” he grimaced.

“Just... act casual” Theron advised as they made their way over to the Nautolan. 

“Can I help you gentlemen?” The bookmaker asked.

Rien took one last glance at Theron before stepping forward.

“Actually, I am hoping that you’ll help me!” Rien said with all the enthusiasm he could muster. “I need to speak with the esteemed Zuurgessh. I have a very profitable en devour for him.”

The Bookie paused his typing and stared at Rien. At least that is what the Jedi assumed. The man’s large black orbs could have been looking anywhere for all he could tell. 

“And what would that be... Mister?...”

“Keyett” He introduced himself, offering his hand out to the Nautolan. “Rien Keyett. I represent this extraordinary man right here.”

The Bookie didn’t bother to take Rien’s hand, who sheepishly lowered it. The Bookie sighed. 

“Lemme guess, you’re trying to get your friend in to see Zuurgessh, probably to get a racing contract because he’s the next Zorrin Darklighter or whatever, right? You know how many people come in with the same story every week?”

Rien was left speechless, he glanced at Theron who seemed as collected as ever. 

“Hey I don’t claim to be the next Darklighter but surely you’ve heard of me? Theron Shan? two-time winner of the Manaan Open and runner up in The Progenitor Classic?”

The Bookie’s eyes suddenly widened. A large smile forming across his face “Of course! I see it now. Theron Shan! Well in that case, no.” The man’s voice was saturated with sarcasm. Glancing to Theron, Rien had to fight the urge to snicker at his Boyfriend’s irritated and almost insulted expression.

“Hey!” Theron began to protest. “I’m serious. Look it up.”

“Listen, Mr Shan. I’m not saying you’re not who you say you are, but Manaan hasn’t been a hotspot for famous racers for nearly half a century. So while I’m sure those are impressive feats on Manaan, they don’t mean a thing here. So, do you wanna place a bet or not? If not, move along.”

“This is going nowhere.” Rien sighed. The Jedi walked right up to the desk, looking straight into the Nautolan’s eyes. Lifting his right hand, and extending his thumb and two fingers, he waved them in front of the other’s vision. “You will take us Zuurgessh and tell him that a promising racer wants to see him”

The Nautolan blinked slowly, his words slurring for a moment as his mind tried to fight against Rien. “I-uhhh. I will-will take y-you to Zu-Zuurgeeessh”. The Bookie proceeded to come out from behind the desk. He made his way to a door off to his left. The Bookie began to speak Huttese into an intercom system. After a few exchanged words, the door was opened by The Bookie who gestured for them to follow. 

“And you said you wouldn’t be a convincing manager.” Theron leaned forward to mutter, chuckling at Rien’s actions.

\---

The Bookie led them up to the second floor. As the three men reached a large set of doors, they were stopped by a Weequay and a Nikto who guarded the doors. The Weequay and the Nautolan exchanged a few words in Huttese before the Nikto opened the door for them. Stepping inside, Rien took note of the opulent and lavish office of the Hutt. A large window overlooked the start and finish lines of the swoop track. The wall to the left was covered from ceiling to floor with various trophies and holographic picture frames of racers over the decades. The opposite wall held a massive series of screens showing camera footage feed from around the track. In the centre of the room sat the Hutt himself.

Zuurgessh was a smaller than average Hutt, the Jedi noted. He held a large cigarra between plump fingers adorned with at least one massive and gaudy ring on each digit, his other hand mirrored the ostentatious display. The Hutt also wore a trio of large gold necklaces around his neck and a set of five rings that went up his tail. The gold, silver, and platinum metals stood out against the Hutt's navy and gray toned skin. The Hutt sat behind a desk with a Rattataki woman across from him. They both looked up to the source of their interruption.

"What's this? I thought I told you lazerbrains not to bother me right now!" The Hutt barked out

The Nikto and the Rattataki exchanged a few words in Huttese as well while Zuurgessh took a drag of his cigarra, exhaling a large cloud of smoke through his nose. Rien wasn't going to waste any more time with this.

"Esteemed Zuurgessh. I am Jedi Master Aidrien Keyett" Rien bowed to the Hutt, attempting to be as respectful as possible. "I've come to you seeking information about a man that visited you last week."

The Rattataki spoke up "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, Master Jedi. Zuurgessh sees a lot of people on a daily basis." The Rattataki walked slowly around Rien as she spoke, her voice low and paced. The body suit she wore was a simple deep maroon affair though it served to highlight her slender yet solid physique. The Hutt's bodyguard, Rien assumed. A deadly seductress that would solve any dispute, either with charm or wrath.

"This man here."

Rien turned slightly to see Theron holding out a holoprojection of the man from the briefing on Odessen. Turning his attention to Zuurgessh and his bodyguard, they were staring at each other, faces impassive as they exchanged this non-verbal communication.

"I-" the Hutt spoke up first then proceeded to pause for a beat "- may have met this man. What business do you two have with him?" The Hutt asked as he flicked at the end of his cigarra, letting the ash fall into a tray on the desk.

Rien’s gaze flicked between Hutt and Rattatakki. He could sense the strong emotions from them. Fear. It radiated off them in waves, yet there was also a hint of hope. “We only wish to find him, good Zuurgessh”

The Hutt took one more pull from the cigarra and nodded to his Bodyguard. Her demeanour changed to one of pure professionalism as she spoke now. “We might be able to reach an agreement then.”

“Is that so?” Theron’s voice cut across “What happened between you and Ke’dem?”

“Ke’dem has been acting on behalf of a racer who wants to end their contract prematurely. We reached an agreement that Ke’dem would work off the racer’s contract and invested credits by taking-” she paused, glancing to her boss with a sly smirk “- private jobs.” Turning her gaze back to the Jedi, she was quick to reassure him “Don’t worry, Master Jedi, nothing too scandalous.” 

“Lately the hunter is getting restless. He’s accusing us of prolonging the arrangement” Zuurgessh interjected “He’s becoming insufferable, threatening me. Me!” The Hutt’s voice raised.

“The problem is, that he does have information now that would jeopardize us. He’s threatening to go to CorSec with it if we don’t terminate the contract immediately and refund them for the extra work.” The Bodyguard continued.

Rien and Theron shared a look. The business of The Hutts was often too messy to bother oneself getting involved in. Rien didn’t even know these two men, but a part of him felt sympathy for Ke’dem and the racer he was helping.

“So what is it you want to do about it?” Theron questioned.

“We want to be free of this. We want Ke’dem to be removed from the picture. We’re willing to cut the contract of the racer. Frankly, it’s become too much trouble to be profitable.” The Bodyguard spoke.

“When you say ‘removed’?...” Her choice of words left Rien concerned. 

Zuurgessh exhaled more smoke and shrugged his shoulders “Killed, pressured into backing down. I don’t care as long his threats stop.”

“We might be able to help, but we need to find him first.” Theron replied. 

“That shouldn’t be a problem. We can contact him, tell him that we have decided to concede to his terms and that we wish to hand over the money in person.”

“That would work?” Rien asked, he had to admit, it seemed too simple.

“It could be passed off as an ‘off the books’ transaction. No records of a transfer meaning a quiet solution” Theron piped up.

Zuurgessh smiled, his wide mouth breaking his face almost in half, “I like this one.” The Hutt began to chuckle.

“Let’s do it then. Contact Ke’dem.” Rien was less than convinced that this would be so smooth.

\---

They had been waiting for nearly two hours. During which time, they had been treated as guests of The Hutt, they watched a couple of races with Zuurgessh, drank from his personal stock of expensive wines and Theron was even offered a job. As the afternoon drew on, there seemed the probability that Ke’dem was a no show.

“You think he suspected a trap?” Theron’s voice, barely a whisper, drifted into Rien’s ear. 

“I’m not sure. I didn’t sense an-”

Rien was cut off as the double doors slid open with a low hiss. 

“I’m here Zuurgessh. Where’s the money.”

Rien and Theron stood to see the Bounty Hunter. The masked man realized the presence of extra attendees. As quick as a bolt, Ke’dem dashed back out through the doors before they could close. 

“Stop him!” yelled The Rattataki as Theron sprang to action, vaulting over the sofa and running after the Hunter. Rien followed suit, sprinting past the bewildered door guards. The Hunter ran back through the bar, pushing through the crowds, an angry chorus erupted at being pushed and shoved. The duo followed their target out of the establishment and watched as he straddled a blue and silver Dasta speeder. 

Theron instinctively rushed to his own swoop.

“Get on!” he called to Rien.

The Jedi complied, quickly straddling the bike.

“Hold on.” Was Theron’s only warning as the Swoop lurched forward and took off in pursuit.

Rien could only watch as Theron whipped through the traffic. The chase caused a number of travellers to sound their horns and yell profanity at the two bikes. Still, Rien couldn’t help but be impressed at Theron’s handling of the swoop. Ke’dem was a skilled rider it seemed, and Theron was able to match him and more. Theron was closing the gap on Ke’dem, The Hunter pulled right hard into a less busy stretch of road. The Hunter turned in his seat slightly. Suddenly a series of red blaster beams came straight for Rien and Theron. Theron was forced into decelerating and taking evasive manoeuvres. Ke’dem took another sharp turn to the left. 

“He’s gone into that warehouse docking area!” Rien shouted

“Yeah I see it.”

Theron sped back up to follow, as they turned the corner, they caught sight of the other speeder using a sloped piece of equipment to launch out of the area and onto the tram tracks.

“Dammit!” Rien cursed. 

“it’s not over yet.” Theron kicked the bike into it’s highest speed, heading for the same ramp.

“Are you crazy? If a tram hits us, we’ll be killed!”

“Then we just gotta make sure not to get hit.” Theron yelled back as the swoop took the jump. Rien could feel his stomach twist. The Bike dropped onto the track with an inelegant bounce once the stabilizers re-engaged. As it did, Rien’s guts also bounced which forced him to bite back the urge to vomit. Theron sped faster to catch up with the other speeder which Rien could still make out a head of them on the track. It was a desperate move on The Hunter’s part. On a section of track above them, Rien could see a tram hurtle by at a breakneck speed. If either bike couldn’t make it off the track in time, it would be completely destroyed by the tram. Theron was quickly gaining on the speeder. Rien looked over the side. This area of the track was rather close to the ground.

“Try and knock him off the track!” He yelled over the sound of the roaring engine.

“I’ll try!”

Theron was gaining fast, the two bikes took a smooth left turn until suddenly, they were face to face with an oncoming tram. Theron, broke hard and Rien watched as the other bike began to decelerate slightly when suddenly, the Hunter shifted into a crouching position on the body of the bike. The tram was almost upon them. Rien watched The Hunter continue to head towards it. With almost no time to spare, The Hunter lept into the air and came down upon the tram with a rolling land. Now they had proof the man was a Force User.

“Theron, move!” Rien yelled and Theron reignited the Swoop, pulling to the left. The turn was sharp, and the loss of momentum caused the speeder to struggle to reach the speed demanded of it. Rien used that moment to leap up and land on the tram himself. Theron kicked the swoop to action to try and avoid being hit. Rien landed awkwardly on the roof of the tram, hurting his left shoulder in the process. He glanced down to see that Theron’s swoop had been tipped by the tram in trying to avoid it. Rien watched as the swoop was sent into a spiral. Theron was flung from the seat and rolled across the sidewalk while the swoop connected with the road, bouncing along it, damaging it irreparably. 

Every thought in Rien’s mind screamed to go back. He had to check on Theron. His panic left him vulnerable. He was caught off guard when a force hit him in the back, knocking him down. Rien’s vision spiralled. He could feel his body slip over the edge of the roof. He scrambled to grab something, anything, to hold on to. His hands touched a lip in the durasteel and he clung to it. His body fell, righting itself as he clung to the side of the tram, his feet scrambled for a footing. He managed to awkwardly climb back on top of the roof, he laid on his back to a moment as his breath was racing. A steady beeping began to sound and Rien lifted his left arm quickly to accept the transmission on his communicator. 

“Theron! Are you alright?!” His words rushed out. He began to sit upright.

“Couple of scrapes, nothing too serious. Listen, I’m headed back to the ship. Our chase caught the attention of the authorities. I’m going to try and track their movements. Find Ke’dem and hurry!”

Rien sighed in relief. “Alright, just... please take care, Theron.” 

There was a pause on the line “Yeah. You too.”

Rien heard the channel close and looked down the length of the tram roof. Towards the back half of the tram cart, he noticed a still mouldering cut out in the durasteel. Ke’dem had cut through and gone into the tram he assumed. He jumped down into the tram cart. It was dark inside with the majority of light coming from the newly created hole in the roof. Rien’s eyes adjusted to the lack of light. They had gone into the cargo cart. Large boxes, crates and containers were all stacked high creating a maze. He began to move quietly into the maze. He reached out with the Force, hoping to use it to locate Ke’dem. Yet, there was nothing. He could sense nothing in his vicinity. Could it be that this was a diversion? That seemed unlikely. Rien continued forth into the darkened cart. He turned the corner of a wall of crates when he felt something hard jab into his spine.

“Move and you’re dead, Jedi.” with that, an orange bladed lightsaber was activated by his neck. The Hunter’s mask distorted his voice with a more disturbing quality to it.

“You’d kill one of your own? A Jedi like you?”

Ke’dem gave a dark laugh through the modulator. “There are barely any Jedi left, and there are no Jedi like me. Who are you? Why were you with Zuurgessh?” 

Rien felt the blaster at his back dig into his flesh slightly deeper. “My name is Aidrien Keyett I-”

“Sith spit. The Hero of Tython died five years ago in The Unknown Regions.” Ke’dem interrupted him. Both of his weapons seeming to close in on Rien. “Who are you really?!” The Hunter demanded.

“I’m telling the truth! I didn’t die on Darth Marr’s ship. Marr and I were captured by Arcann and brought to Zakuul. We were taken before the Sith Emperor who was calling himself ‘Valkorion’. He claimed that Zakuul was his passion project and that Arcann and Vaylin were his children. He tried to have us submit to him, but Marr refused. He tried to kill ‘Valkorion’ but died trying. Arcann then turned on his ‘father’ and gave me the opening to kill Valkorion myself. I managed to destroy Valkorion’s body, but a blast of energy rendered me unconscious. Next thing I knew, Vitiate was in my mind and Arcann had placed me carbonite for five years. I was freed by the former head of Sith Intelligence, Lana Beniko and my old droid, T7-O1. We managed to escape Zakuul with the help of a Zakuulan officer named Koth and an assassin droid, aboard a starship called The Gravestone.”

Rien rushed through the summary of the events. Ke’dem was quiet for a few seconds afterwards, with only the sound of the tram’s engines and the hum of a lightsaber breaking the silence.

“That’s the stupidest story I’ve ever heard in my life. I’m gonna give you one more chance t-”

“Look. You’re a Force User, clearly trained too. Reach out, search my feelings and tell me that you can detect deceit.” It was Rien’s turn to interrupt. The Hunter was obviously not going to back down easy. It was a bold attempt, but Ke’dem was quiet for a moment. Rien allowed himself to be open, putting his feelings and thoughts on display for the other man to sense. It was quiet again for some time. Then, the lightsaber was deactivated with compressed screech. 

“I-it’s really you.” The voice of the hunter had dropped and even through the modulator, Rien could hear raw emotion in the words. He felt the other’s grip on him release completely. When he turned around, he saw The Hunter lifting his mask off. A young blond man stood before him, with gray eyes and stubbled jaw, a chin stripe goatee and sideburns. He was much older now, but Rien would recognize this man anywhere.

“Jost?” He asked in disbelief. Jost Colton, the Padawan of Kira Carsen. A former crewmate and a good friend before his incarceration in carbonite.

Without warning the smaller man crashed into Rien. His arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace. Rien returned the gesture. Aside from T7, Jost was now the only other member of his past life that he had come into contact with since waking up. 

“I thought you were dead. We all did. Except Kira.” Jost’s voice was soft and filled with emotion still. 

“Kira... is Kira here?” Rien asked, his mind began to get a head of him, were all his crew here on Corellia? T7 had said they were all separated. Jost broke the hug and looked up into Rien’s eyes. Despite the years, in that moment, he looked like the teenager he had once known. His eyes were saddened as he spoke.

“No, she ... she isn’t. It’s a long story.”

Rien’s wrist comm began to chime once again. 

“Commander, do you have Ke’dem?”

“Technically, he got me. I’m fine, he’s fine. You won’t believe what I’ve discovered.” Rien smiled softly at Jost, who gave a weak smirk in return.

“I can’t wait to hear it, but right now you both need to get off that tram. It’s making an emergency stop in Axial Park, there’s a squad of CorSec officers waiting on the platform to search the tram.”

“How long do we have?”

“At best? Five minutes.”

“Alright, we’ll meet you back at the ship.”

With that, Rien and Jost made their way back out through the hole in the roof. They didn’t wait for the tram to stop before jumping off and back on to the track. It took some work, but the pair managed to climb down from the tracks to the ground and took off for Coronet Spaceport. 

\---

Theron let out a raspy hiss of surprise as Rien applied the antiseptic cloth onto one of the small cuts on his forehead.

“Oh c’mon it’s not that bad.” Rien smiled, playfully teasing the agent.

“Hey, I’m the one that got hit by a tram” Theron pointed out, though it was obvious he was biting back a smile. 

“I’m sorry about that.” Jost piped up.

The two Jedi had rendezvoused with Theron at his ship and the three of them were now sitting in the small lounge on the craft as Rien tended to the small scratches and cuts Theron had suffered from his fall.

“I’ve had worse.” Theron turned his head to look at Jost. The smirk had broken through his restraint.

“Hold still” Rien chided

Theron angled his head for Rien to continue working. 

“You were able to ride that speeder very well, where’d you learn that.” Theron asked Jost. The younger Jedi smiled at him “I had time to practice while I was here.” 

“Anything to do with the racer you were helping?” Rien pursued. He glanced over to Jost briefly. _‘Was he... blushing?’_ he wondered.

“Yeah, it was. They are of the friends I made while I was here. The first one, actually. Helped me get on my feet.” Jost explained. “After I got separated from Master Kira, Scourge, and Doc on Begeren. I wasn’t sure where to go so I came back here.”

“What happened on Begeren?” Rien asked as he began to pack away the first aid kit. 

Jost shifted in his seat. “Master Kira had never given up hope you were alive. She believed you had been captured by Arcann. She began trying to gather resources, and assistance. Pretty soon we had a small little band of rebels. She began leading missions against Zakuulan outposts, looking for intel, weapons, resources of any kind. The Empire and The Republic had surrendered, Master Satele had just vanished one day. Doing what we did, it felt right. It felt good. We had made the move to Begeren and had established a small, temporary base there. We planned to make an attack on a nearby listening post, but Arcann was waiting for us. We fled back to Begeren, but The Eternal Fleet followed us.” Jost pause, his whole body seemed to have shrunk smaller than it was. His eyes were staring at the floor. 

“They attacked our group. So many had died. Scourge and Kira saved me from a Zakuul Knight and I just ran. I found a small fighter and took off with one of the other transports. We had just broken the atmosphere when one of the Eternal Fleet warships opened fire on the transport. It was torn to shreds. I was targeted next, but I was able to barely just evade and jump to hyperspace. I don’t know what happened to the others.” He barely spoke above a whisper when he said, “I had to accept they were probably dead.” 

Rien moved around the small table that the circular couch partially surrounded and sat beside Jost. He draped his arm around the younger man and pulled him closer. Jost let himself be embraced. 

“You and I both know that she’s tougher than some Zakuul Knight. She made it out. I know she has, and we’ll find her.” Rien spoke softly, he could feel Jost’s pain radiating off him in waves. 

Rien observed Theron lean on the table. “Jost. We were looking for you, well ‘Ke’dem Guerlle’, because we’ve formed a similar group, an alliance of Republic and Imperials who wish to fight back against Arcann and his Eternal Empire. We hoped Ke’dem Guerlle would join The Alliance. So, would you?”

Jost sat up, out of Rien’s embrace. “Seriously?” he asked, eyebrows meeting in a frown “You’re actually taking the fight to Arcann?”

“Not yet, but we’re trying. Right now, we need resources, intel, and people” Rien explained. 

Jost chuckled “Damn. Yeah, of course I’ll go with you.” His eyes suddenly lost their sparkle. “There’s just one thing I need to do first. Actually, I need you guys to do it.”

“Anything” Rien assured him.

\---

The next morning, Rien and Theron had returned to Zuurgessh the Hutt. They informed him that Ke’dem Guerlle had died last night in their chase. Rien presented evidence of The Hunter’s decimated speeder bike, and produced the domed helmet, now cracked and broken, to the Hutt as further evidence. Rien ensured that the racer Ke’dem had been helping was freed of the contract as a personal favour that Hutt was all too happy to oblige with.

After leaving the racing club, Rien, Theron, and Jost swung by the latter’s old apartment building to pick up the few items he owned and say goodbye to his friend. Rien and Theron watched from their rented speeder as Jost exited the building with a slightly taller Mirialan. They held each other’s hands as they walked out together. They exchanged a few words, something which made them both laugh. Then, the Mirialan lifted a hand to Jost’s face, holding his jaw and lifting it while leaning forward to kiss him. Rien looked away from the private moment and smiled at Theron, who took Rien’s hand in his own and gave it a light squeeze. 

Rien caught movement out of the corner of his eye as Jost walked back to the speeder. As he climbed in the back seat, tossing a small bag into the far seat, Rien piped up.

“You never said you had a boyfriend.”

Jost froze in the act of putting his seat belt on. A slight blush rose upon his cheeks.

“Shut up. Wagyx...” Jost mumbled.

The two older men began chuckling as Theron piloted the speeder back to the spaceport.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've made this far then I congratulate you! Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! If you have any feedback I'd love to know (even if you'd like to tell me you hated it).


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